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May 14, 2008: Eureka! Wind company lies complete

I have to admit, I must give Invenergy an A for consistency. They are persistent in their efforts to hide health and safety information from the residents of Roxbury and Stamford. Not only did they remove the information in appendix O of the DEIS, which contains a warning to turbine operators and technicians “Do not stay within a radius of 1,300 ft., unless it is necessary.” They also removed the list of toxic oils and lubricants that are located within the turbines. The manufacturer states, “May cause cancer, very toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment.”

Appendix P has also been deleted from the public viewing document on the Moresville website. This material contained information on placement of the Vestas V-90 Turbines. The manufacturer states “If the wind turbine is sited at elevations greater than (3,300 ft.) above sea level, a higher than usual temperature rise may occur in electrical components. Furthermore, sites situated at greater than (3,300 ft.) above sea level usually experience an increased risk of icing in most climates.” Most of the turbines will be above 3,300 ft. sea level.

Another hazard still in the DEIS, which may also be deleted once I mention it: Snow & Ice Hazards, Manufacturers Instructions, “If icing conditions are suspected, do not approach within 1,000 ft. of any turbine while it is running.” This would probably mean from about January through March. It’s nice to see that the manufacturer cares for their employees’ safety. Anyway the list goes on and on…

Invenergy’s answer to the removal of critical health and safety information is that it is “Proprietary Information.” After the information was questioned at a board meeting, it simply disappeared from the Roxbury and Moresville websites public document section. Proprietary is nothing more than a five-dollar word used by the Invenergy team, but what they really mean is “OOPS! How did we let that information get in there, let’s remove it and make it go away!” If the Roxbury and Stamford town boards do nothing to change their wind laws, to at least 1,300 ft. to an adjacent property line, this would clearly put residents’ health and safety at risk. With a 1,000 ft. safety setback to a property line in Stamford, and a 615 ft. setback in Roxbury, this certainly needs to be addressed.

With all the above flaws in the DEIS, and numerous others, I can’t see how the expert engineer from La Bella missed them. I was present at the Roxbury Planning Board meeting, when at least a dozen residents witnessed the engineer from La Bella, and the Roxbury attorney convince the planning board what a great job Invenergy did on the DEIS. The engineer and the Roxbury attorney said other than a few changes and clarifications, the DEIS was well done and should be accepted. It seemed like the planning board was pressured into accepting the DEIS. Most of the planning board hadn’t even had time to review the document.

The fact of the matter is that Invenergy had a timeline, they needed to have the DEIS accepted by the end of the month, so they could get on the list to be signed on to the power grid. If not, Invenergy would have to wait another year, and possibly cost them more money if the power grid needed to be upgraded.
Eureka! The equation is complete.